An Exeter cinema was forced to close due to flooding - on the same day Noah opened on the big-screen nationwide.

Those wanting to attend the first viewing of the latest blockbuster at Vue cinema in Exeter on Friday could have been forgiven for thinking they got a little closer to the action than anticipated.

Staff discovered the excess water when they arrived for work just after 7am. The venue had to close to the public until 2pm - meaning the first showing of Noah at 12.15pm had to be cancelled.

The scale of water may not have been as biblical as it was on the big screen - and it is unclear if any animals had to be rescued from the confines of the cinema – - but the irony wasn’t lost on cinema-goers.

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One tweeted: “#Irony. The day Noah was released Exeter Vue was flooded overnight."

The film starring Russell Crowe is expected to become one of this season’s biggest blockbusters and opened across the country on Friday. It tells the story of Noah’s vision of Earth destroyed by a flood and he decides that The Creator wants him to build an ark to protect the world’s innocent animals.

A spokesman for Vue cinema said: “We can confirm that there was flooding at Vue Exeter on Friday 4th April due to a fault with an ice machine.

"We are open for business as usual and are working with engineers to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.”